The invention relates to a pick-up baler for agricultural produce.
In the DE 195 31 240 A1, such a baler is described, for which a rotary conveyor conveys harvested crops, picked up from the ground, through a conveying channel into a baling channel, in which individual rakes, which rotate about a rotor axis of rotation and are disposed, so that they can swivel about their own axes, which are parallel to the rotor axis of rotation, collect the harvested crops initially in the conveying channel and finally, due to a feeding motion of a rake, push it into the baling channel. The swiveling of the rakes, required for the conveying and feeding motions, is realized owing to the fact that the rakes are guided in a pivotable curved path, the degree of swiveling of which is fixed depending on whether the rakes carry out only a conveying motion, or a feeding motion. The swiveling of the curved path can be controlled over a sensor for determining the amount of harvested crops conveyed in such a manner, that the feeding motion is carried out only when a sufficient amount of harvested crops is present in the feeding channel. The quality of the conveying as well as of the feeding depends essentially on the swiveling motions, carried out by the respective rakes, an optimum motion of the rakes in the conveying function differing appreciably from an optimum motion in the feeding function. In the case of the known baler, however, because the swiveling of the rakes for the conveying function as well as the swiveling of the rakes for the feeding function are controlled by the same curved path, this can represent only a compromise between the guiding required for the optimum motion of the rakes for conveying and the optimum motion for feeding.
The invention is therefore concerned with the problem of indicating a pick-up baler, which can be constructed so as to be adapted better, with respect to its conveying function as well as with respect to its feeding function, to the particular configuration of the baler, especially of the feeding channel and of the transition region to the baling channel, but also to the harvested crops, which are to be baled.
This objective is accomplished by a pick-up baler with the distinguishing features of claim 1.
Owing to the fact that the feeding rakes and the conveying rakes are guided in different curved paths, the latter can be adapted optimally to the main function of the respective rake, the curved path, guiding the conveying rakes, being constructed immovably, and only the curved path, guiding the feeding rakes, having to be constructed movably, so that the feeding rake can be converted from the conveying function to the feeding function.